15226 pregnant women and mothers were surveyed by campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed:

Nine in ten said virus curbs are damaging their mental wellbeing, with 97 per cent saying lockdown had increased their anxiety around childbirth.

one in five said they felt forced to have an intrusive examination to ‘prove’ they had entered the final stage of birth, in line with many hospitals’ draconian rules to allow their partner to finally join them.

85% of pregnant women said their hospital had restrictions in place preventing their partner from attending scans and early labour, with 90% saying this has had a negative impact on their mental health. 94% said they were stressed some or all of the time.

78% said their partner would be unable to attend early labour and 97% said that this has increased their anxiety around childbirth

17.4% said they had felt forced to have a vaginal examination when in labour with 82% saying this was so that the midwife could establish whether they were in established labour so that their partner could attend the birth.

For this that had given birth:

66% said they didn’t feel they had had the support they needed from health professionals and 56% said they didn’t feel their baby had been given the required health checks. 36% said that the care they had received since giving birth was poor with only 19% describing their care as good.